It is with great rejoicing that we announce our latest triumph, the
successful development of an effective new means of fundraising to support
targets of state repression. For our test run, the targets of state repression
were Scott DeMuth and Carrie
Feldman, two young anarchists the FBI is struggling to tie to an Animal
Liberation Front action that occurred at
the University of Iowa in 2004 when the two were barely in high school.
Scott is charged with conspiracy to
violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism
Act; he goes to trial September 13. After serving four months in prison for
refusing to speak to a grand jury, Carrie has been subpoenaed again, this time
to testify at Scott’s trial. The two face tremendous legal expenses and are in
dire need of support.

-

It is with great rejoicing that we announce our latest triumph, the
successful development of an effective new means of fundraising to support
targets of state repression.

All you need to try this yourself is 1) a person or cause that deserves
fundraising support, 2) another person who cares about that person or cause, and
3) a bunch of people who want to play a practical joke on the caring person.

Last November, we were fruitlessly trying to brainstorm new ways to raise
funds for Scott and Carrie. At the same time, we were teasing our friend Steve
for hating
folk punk, an obscure musical genre. Have you ever had a friend who loved to
hate things and be miserable in a way that was positively adorable? Steve is
that kind of person, as hundreds of admirers can attest. Somebody had spread a
rumor that Steve was in a folk punk band, Steve was incensed, it was
hysterical—and suddenly we had a brilliant money-making scheme.

We knew that Steve would never stand in the way of a benefit for Scott and
Carrie no matter how personally humiliating it was. So we sent out a top secret
email soliciting pledges to their legal fund on the condition that Steve record
a folk punk album. We hoped to reach $1000 worth of pledges, but within a week
we had more than $2000—everybody wanted in on this prank! We broke the news at
the last show of a From the Depths
tour: picture a wild crowd waving fistfulls of dollar bills, holding signs
reading “Don’t let us down!” and chanting “STEVE! STEVE!” A dumbfounded Steve
was ceremoniously presented with a banjo and eventually stuttered that the album
would be recorded, to the glee of all.

Performing under the nom de shame “Spook Rat,” Steve has now completed the
recording. Hearing Steve’s anguished voice belting out these tuneless anthems
warms our wicked hearts—Steve is a highly trained musician and a perfectionist
who never dared sing a note until now. And the album does not disappoint: it’s
at least as funny as the prank itself! Borrowing from
Umlaut, plagiarizing
Manowar, and covering
Kool Keith, Spook Rat
mercilessly satirizes folk punk, anarchist subculture, and everything else
within reach. “Drunk Dialing Legal Support” and “You Say Oogle like It’s a Bad
Thing” are destined to become timeless classics, while “Deth 2 Folk Punk” is
more introspective, capturing Steve’s meditations on life’s inescapable
tragedies.

To quote the insert, “SHAME on anyone who listens to this without donating
their life savings to prisoners!”
Click here to make a donation to Scott and Carrie’s support campaign via
Paypal.

The beauty of this tactic is that it can draw money from outside politicized
circles; we raised money from people who would not otherwise have donated a cent
to Scott or Carrie. Traditional fundraising tactics usually require political
sympathies on the part of those at whom the appeal is directed. This one
requires only two people who give a damn about anything: the organizer of the
prank and the victim. We call on all anarchists who find our story entertaining
to commence testing this method out in their own social groups immediately.

When we say that we are prepared to go to any length to support our prisoners
and overthrow capitalism, we don’t just mean we’re willing to break things or go
to jail or get killed. We also mean we’re ready to invent brand new tactics and
even have fun if that’s what it takes—we mean that nothing is sacred, including
our friends and our pious notions about anarchist organizing. When it comes to
maintaining long-term defendant and prisoner support, a little fun might not
hurt.

-The unfortunate Steve attending a Renaissance-themed wedding

The Original Top Secret Fundraising Plea

Famed bassist of From the Depths
and Requiem and guitarist of Network of Terror, Steve is an amazing musician and
can play almost every instrument there is.

For some reason, Steve hates folk punk. It drives Steve crazy! Steve is a
funny person who loves to hate things. Sometimes we speculate that Steve loves
the same things Steve hates, because it makes Steve so happy not to like things.

But Steve cares a lot about
Scott DeMuth and Carrie Feldman, the two young people alleged by the FBI to
have something to do with an Animal Liberation Front action in Iowa in 2004.
Scott and Carrie languish in jail, even though the event in question happened
when they were barely in high school.

We have a crazy idea. We’re soliciting pledges for people to promise to
donate a certain amount of money to the support fund for Scott and Carrie, on
the condition that Steve records a folk punk album. When we’ve got $1000
pledged, we’ll break the news to Steve, who will have no choice except to record
the album. We’ve already raised hundreds of dollars—we’re close and just need a
little help!

If you like folk punk

Steve is a great musician and is bound to record an album that will shoot to
the top of the folk punk charts, knocking
Ryan
Harvey out of #1.

If you don’t like folk punk

Life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Even folk punk can serve a purpose when
it comes to offering legal support to political prisoners—and playing practical
jokes on our friends.

If you like Steve

Show you care by helping out Steve’s friends, and playing this teasing trick!

If you don’t like Steve

This prank will mortify Steve! Just imagine Steve’s reaction when Steve finds
out that Steve has to record a folk punk album or deny friends $1000+ of funds
they desperately need.

If you like defending targets of state repression

This is an opportunity to break exciting new ground in prisoner support! If
pranks like this can be tied to prisoner support projects, it will open up broad
new horizons for fundraising and spreading awareness. This isn’t just about
Scott and Carrie—it’s about the future of prisoner support!

If you don’t care about defending targets of state repression

Then fuck off!

To participate, just email
rollingthunder@crimethinc.com and tell how much you can pledge. We’ll
contact you when we’ve reached $1000 and can break the news to Steve. Everyone
is invited to the surprise party at which we will make the announcement.

Feel free to forward this email to others you trust. Thanks so much,
everyone!

Testimonials

“Thank you all so much! We are so thrilled and honored that Steve is doing
this for Carrie and Scott. It’s a huge help. And we can’t wait to hear the
album!”
-Support Committee for Carrie Feldman

“This is a significant contribution to Scott’s struggle for justice, and for
justice for all peoples.”
-Family and Friends of Scott DeMuth [apocryphal]

“I hate folk too, but I like making people suffer, especially my friends!”
-Bryan Funck of Thou

“This is the best idea ever. No really, EVARRRR.”
-Anonymous supporter